Research Log/Journal

My relationship with the Research Log/Journal has been off and on for the most part over the years, until this past year when I discovered the log I am currently using. It's unique format and the fact that I can copy and paste it anywhere helps keep me on track using it. I have a section in my OneNote Genealogy "Binder" dedicated to my research log and I create a page for each days research and copy & paste as many of these logs on that page as I need.

 I found the information regarding this form here:

http://www.fgs.org/upload/FGS_FORUM/V23N4_Winter_2011.pdf on pages 8-12 of this issue of the Federation of Genealogical Societies Forum, the article will give you in depth detail regarding this

 form of Research Log. I copied and pasted the actual form into OneNote from the Total Recall Research Log Blog and then adjusted a little for my usage.

I hope this will inspire you to continue logging your research.

Danica

Source Citation

I have found that in my research knowing how to cite my sources has been one of my biggest challenges. I mention in a previous post that when I began my genealogy research I had no idea about the correct way of documenting my research. Truth be told I really didn’t know what I was doing. In the past year I have learned more about this and have begun to track my research and learn how to cite my sources. This is pretty easy to do when researching from familysearch.org or ancestry.com as they give you the source citation and all you need to do is reference the correct ancestor. While this is definitely helpful you should not rely completely on these citations as is, make sure to check them for all the information you or another researcher would need to find the information again.

Here is a list of sites that I have used to learn more about source citation:

http://www.progenealogists.com/citationelements.htm This will give you the Standards of a Source Citation

http://www.progenealogists.com/commoncitations.htm this website gives great copy & paste format that you can use for most of the research that you do. Make sure you change the pertinent areas to include the correct data.

http://www.progenealogists.com/citationguide.htm this is the guide to the above webpage, use it as a reference point.

http://ancestry-stickynotes.tumblr.com/post/27564686370/ask-ancestry-anne-sourcing-templates more source citation templates

To further your learning of source citation the following books and articles are wonderful sources:

Evidence Explained

Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian

Genealogical Standards of Evidence: A Guide for Family Historians

Genealogical Proof Standard

Quicksheet Citing Online Historical Resources

The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual

I hope this information helps you with your family research.

Danica

 

Microsoft OneNote

I thought today I would show you how I have begun to organize my research in OneNote. Nothing will explain better than an actual photo.

I have this set up as a form I can just add as a page without having to duplicate it each time. I have a basic page with an overview of each family members facts and then add sub-pages for censuses, birth, death records. I have also added sub-pages for non direct descendant children. I have a Notebook for each family line and an additional Notebook for Genealogy helps, such as my toolkit of favorite sites and sources.

Danica

Connecting with Family through Genealogy Sites

Recently I have connected with some distant cousins using ancestry.com and findagrave.com. They have helped to answer questions that I have had for a while now. My family lost touch with my great grandfathers side of the family after my great grandmother passed away. My g-grandfather had 15 siblings so this left a large portion of our family we had no contact with. I had for many years or at least since starting genealogical research been wondering if there was a family bible somewhere. One cousin had copies of the relevant pages from two of the family bibles that had been passed down. He doesn't know where the original bibles are but the copies of these pages will still be a big help in finding information and will at least give a clue as to where and what to look for.


This is a great benefit of using these sites, the ability to connect with long lost relatives. Another reason I like this is you can contact another member/potential relative without giving your email or other personal info out, so if you have the wrong person, you don't have to worry about them having your info.




Danica

Family Lore

If you have been researching your family tree for any length of time, you most likely have asked your relatives what they know about your common ancestors. In so doing you have probably heard many different tales that may or may not be true. In our family we have a story that is a familiar story to most Americans, the Indian in the family and while at one time having a Native American Heritage or Ancestor may have been something to keep hidden, know days everyone wants to have some claim to an Indian tribe.

Now in my family we do have the Native American tale but we also have many others. I have one story that wasn't so much told in story form as was just a stated fact in the family. I have an Aunt that growing up I was informed that she was a foster child that my maternal grandparents had taken in, and in my very young mind (about 6 years old, maybe 7) I figured my grandmother and her 2nd husband as she had divorced my maternal grandfather and he had died by this time, know if I had really thought this through I probably would have thought why would the aunt need a foster parent as she was many years older than her sibling. Many years have gone by since the mention of this aunt being a foster sibling and my maternal grandparents have both passed away, so to verify the information I came across one day I will need to continue my research and see if I can find original birth, marriage and death certificates for various members of the family. But what I believe that my research so far bears out is that the foster sister was not a foster sister at all but a half sister born to the same father but different mothers. I have not been able to prove that my maternal grandfather was married prior to marriage to my grandmother but there is proof that he did have a previous relationship with another woman and had at least 3 children with her.

On my paternal grandfathers side of the family is the tale of Indian blood, as the story goes in short form is one of my great grandfathers parents was full blooded Crow & the other full blooded Cherokee. I have found no proof so far but feel in many cases that I am still in the early stages of research.

We also have the tale of how an ancestor on the paternal grandmothers side one of her ancestors was the man who purchased Manhattan from the Indians.

Or on another branch of the family we have the tales of relation to the James brothers, Queen Victoria, Sir Francis Drake and the man who wrote the Thomasson Tracts.

Any and all these tales could be true but I have my doubts. What family tales are you trying to prove or disprove and What sources have proved valuable to you in doing so?

Danica

A Trip to the Family History Library

        This past summer I took a trip to Salt Lake City and while there I had made plans to visit the Family History Library. I felt that I was prepared as possible although I am sure I could have done more prep. I had my laptop with my Genealogy information, My IPhone with ancestry app and my notes for what sources I wanted to look at. While this all helped some in the end I don’t feel that I made any of the progress I was hoping for, my "brick wall" (it is in quotes because I have another couple sources to check they just haven't been in the budget yet) is still there.

        I have an ancestor who seems to have done a bit of a disappearing act around the 1880's. While I may have found a possible source for him in the 1880 New York City census I can't be sure, as the man I have found that has many of the corresponding pieces of info as my ancestor he is going by a name that as of yet I have not run across. I thought the death certificate might help but no such luck. So while at the library I thought I would search to see if they had his marriage certificate and sure enough they did but the information on there is a bit disappointing. The only thing that may help is the witnesses names and I can't quite make them out in full as they are just the signatures.

     As the progress wasn't happening I decided to try a different tack and search for his mother's information mainly regarding her death as she died just days after his birth and I thought this may help with his birth information. Each source I searched for her was missing the year of her death which was a bit frustrating, so I decided to move on.

      I began searching locals in the book department for any mention of family names and ran across a number of articles for the Anderson side of the family. I still need to research them out as they are just submissions to the historical societies (that have published these books) by other descendants of our common ancestors, but I am hoping that some of the information will prove to be helpful in furthering my genealogical journey.

Danica 

Charles Ray Anderson......again

In the 1930 Census he is back in Texas, married to Celia V and has one son, Charles R age 2. They are living in Precinct #2, Ward, Texas, he is 24 and the age of his first marriage was 22, she is 22 & age for her first marriage is 19,  which would put the marriage date somewhere between 1927 & 1928. 

By April of 1932 the family had moved to Riverside, California where son Ronald Keith was born according to the California Birth Index.  And according to the 1940 census they were living in Rural, Jefferson, Oklahoma April 1935. He applied for his social security number on 8 December 1936, he is unemployed living in Wichita Falls, Texas. By the 10th of January 1938 the family has moved to Corona, California where Celia applies for a social security number. She is working for the Corona Citrus Association, although it looks like she has been working for them since before 24 November 1936. (Some of this is me surmising, it is possible that they have been in California longer and he went to Wichita looking for work as I have found her father in that location).

In the 1940 Census he is 34 & is living in Temescal, Riverside, California with his wife Celia-31, & sons Charles Ray "Jr"-12, Ronald Keith-7, & Lynn-5.

I will share more information as I pull together more sources.

Thanks for stopping by.

Danica

More on Charles Ray Anderson

Charles Ray Anderson most likely went by his middle name Ray, was born 22 Dec 1905 in Buffalo Springs, Clay, Texas to Washington Alonzo & Isabelle Vivian (Tyner) Anderson. There is a possibility that his birth date is incorrect, but at this time much of my research points to the above date. He had 15 siblings, born between 1880 & 1909, one of which did not survive but I haven't been able to locate any more information on that child at this time. 

In the 1910 Census Ray was living in with his parents in Justice Precinct #5, Clay County, Texas, where they give his name as Raymond & he is 4 years old, there are many of his siblings still living at home and one married brother & his wife. I can make out his father's name as Washington A but much of his mother's name is unclear although I can definitely see the middle initial is a V, and when I look at the image on ancestry I do see that the index connected to this census page has her name as Isabelle V.

In the 1920 Census he is still living with his parents but they are know in Earl Township, Jefferson County, Oklahoma and there are less children in the household. He is 14 years old.

So sometime between 1910 & 1920 he, his parents and the remaining children in the home moved to Oklahoma, I haven't pinned the date or even year down on this yet...it is on my to do list.

If you have any questions or know any information regarding any of the ancestors I share about, please leave me a comment. 

Danica

Charles Ray Anderson (1905-1961)

......was my Great Grandfather. He was born 22 Dec 1905  in Texas to Washington Alonzo Anderson & Isabelle Tyner. This information was first given to me by my aunt and to her from her father, I have since found the information on his death certificate, although it has his mother's name as Belle Tyner, and other sources that I hope to share with you. I am still searching for a Birth Certificate or Register/Index. I do have his Social Security application and have found him in the census records from 1910-1940.

Charles Ray Anderson Holding his Youngest son,
my grandfather Circa 1944/1945

I will be sharing with you over the next few days the information I have gleaned/surmised from my research.

Danica

GPS

No, this doesn't stand for Global Positioning System, it stands for Genealogical Proof Standard, at least for Genealogy purposes.

I recently finished reading Christine Rose's Book "Genealogical Proof Standard" and my first thought is I wish that I had read this years ago. I didn't even know this book existed, but the information in it and the sample case study will go far in helping me to understand and maybe even find the answers I am searching for in my family tree research. I have a few hard cases that I am just not willing to call brick walls yet but they seem to be heading that way. I have plans to order some documents here soon that I am hoping will get me past these spots and I am going to implement what I have learned in this book to further this research.

My genealogical search is for the most part going back to stage one, I haven't been applying the GPS in the past, I didn't even know it existed, but know that I do, it is back to the beginning. I don't necessarily want to do this but feel in order to have a completed picture and enough information to help others I may connect with as I go along I need to have my facts straight and as corroborated as possible.

 If you haven't read it, find it, read it, your local library may have it or you can purchase it here at Amazon, I purchased it along with the book "The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual" by The Board of Certification of Genealogist. I figure between the two books and with the addition of Elizabeth Shown Mills Books "Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian" & "Evidence Explained" I should have a few good guides in conducting my research. You can purchase Elizabeth Shown Mills Books by following the above links, I purchased "Evidence Explained" in e-book format as it is an expensive book (and was slightly cheaper this way), although now I wish I had it in hard copy.

Do You have any books that you consider must have Genealogy Books/Manuals? Let me know as I am working on putting together my own genealogy library and would love some input from others.

Danica

ANDERSON

My main family line is Anderson, this makes searching for information a whole lot of fun:)

Do you know how common the last name Anderson is?

According to the 2000 Census data the Surname Anderson is the 12th most common last name with over 762,000 people having the Anderson surname. While this isn't as bad as having the surname Smith which is the most common surname according to the same census data with over 2 million people. (I even have some Smiths in my family tree).

What does Anderson mean? 

This is the information I found on Ancestry's What's in the name? search:

Anderson Name Meaning

Scottish and northern English: very common patronymic from the personal name Ander(s), a northern Middle English form of Andrew. See also Andreas. The frequency of the surname in Scotland is attributable, at least in part, to the fact that St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, so the personal name has long enjoyed great popularity there. Legend has it that the saint’s relics were taken to Scotland in the 4th century by a certain St. Regulus. The surname was brought independently to North America by many different bearers and was particularly common among 18th-century Scotch-Irish settlers in PA and VA. In the United States, it has absorbed many cognate or like-sounding names in other European languages, notably Swedish Andersson, Norwegian and Danish Andersen, but also Ukrainian Andreychyn, Hungarian Andrásfi, etc.

Pasted from <http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=anderson>

 I have to say, I think my great-great grandparents tried to populate the western states all on there own, with 16 children of which 15 lived to marry and have children of their own. Now to find them all.

Danica

An Amateurs' Genealogical Journey

Welcome to my New Adventure,

I started my family history search many years ago and have to say that I still consider myself an amateur in most areas. I can find many records or sources for records online but when it comes to citing my sources in the past I have left that pretty much alone, relying on what is cited on sites like ancestry.com. Recently I have taken up the challenge to re-organize my research, to cite my sources, to make it so I am not constantly wondering where did I leave off. Source citing is not the only component of genealogy research that I have in the past left to itself, I have also been very lax on my research journal. Where, when, who, what did I search and why.

To solve all these issues and to create a better family history, whether I ever publish or not, I have decided to go back to the beginning for the most part. Find those documents and facts over again and cite them. To further my progress I am doing a few new things:

            1. Using Microsoft OneNote  to organize my entire Genealogy world. I started with this idea a few years ago, but ended up having to replace my laptop and never got back to it, until recently. I looked into using Evernote but decided that OneNote gives me more options to organize my files according to the way I have been doing things, only digitally…..I'll get back to this in another post.

             2. Starting a new tree on ancestry and in my Family Tree Maker 2012 software. I love the fact that I can sync these together.

             3. Listening and reading more on Genealogy Research, especially citing sources. So far I have just recently started listening to podcasts and watching some of the many mini videos on genealogy research how to's….we live in a very rural area, which make internet videos and such a bit of a problem, as our internet is limited.

             4. Starting a new blog, all about my genealogical journey's. I hope to include much of what I am finding as I go along in the hope that I will be able to meet and help other family members with there research, but I also hope to include resources and other items that have and will help me along the way.

             5. Organizing my digital files to coordinate with my OneNote Notebooks.

             6. Building my genealogy book library. I love books could probably spend my whole paycheck on them were it feasible, but since it isn't I will have to build my library one or maybe two books at a time.

Hopefully, with the new plan in place and the new to me resources I can have a better work flow, make more progress, track my research and cite my sources. If you have any tips, hints or resources that have been a big help to you and would like to share please drop me a note via email or the comments box below. 

Danica